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The United States should let some big troubled banks fail rather than commit more federal funds to prop them up,two key congressional Republicans said on Sunday. Senator Richard Shelby,top Republican on the Banking Committee,said the United States should not mimic Japan,which in the 1990s propped up failing banks and prolonged its economic downturn. Close them down,get them out of business. If theyre dead,they ought to be buried, Shelby told ABCs This Week programme. We bury the small banks. Weve got to bury some big ones and send a strong message to the market.

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Financial authorities have been under increasing fire as hundreds of billions of dollars of loans and capital infusions into distressed institutions have failed to halt the economic downturn,which has only accelerated in recent weeks.

Senator John McCain,who remains a Republican leader after losing the 2008 White House race to President Barack Obama,criticized the new administration’s response to the banks.

I dont think they made the hard decision and that is to let these banks fail, McCain told Fox News Sunday.

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As the US government boosts its stakes in major banks such as Citigroup Inc,talk of nationalisation has stirred a debate over how far regulators will go to help the ailing financial system. Shelby did not mention any banks by name but,when asked about Citigroup,he said: Citis always been a problem child. McCain echoed Shelbys criticism of US banks but both senators avoided the term nationalization  a concept typically derided by Republicans as a move toward socialism. Asked what should be done,McCain said: Youd sell off their assets and unfortunately,the shareholders and others will take a beating.

Tom Donohue,president of the US Chamber of Commerce,the nations biggest business group,said it was not practical to talk about closing a bank that is integrated throughout the whole global economy.